OCTOBER 29, 2019 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
For crying out loud …
(Luke Hemer)
The big voice and friendly face of Gavin Barker is well known across the Moorabool shire, where he’s been the official town crier for more than two decades. Mr Barker has been the official shire announcer for the past 22 years, and loves every bit of it. “There’s a lot of citizenship ceremonies and council functions, meeting people and being the face of the shire I suppose, which is lots of fun,” he said. “A town crier is an ambassador for the shire, something I’ve loved to do. Having the big voice helps as well, I guess.” Mr Barker recently represented Moorabool at the National Town Criers Championships and World Town Crier Invitational in Echuca/Moama, picking up second place in the loudest cry (with a 99.1 decibel cry), and third in the Champion of Champions event. He was also presented the Pat Adamson Award, which is given to the crier who is trying to better the town crier guild in the community. “The man who won the world tournament was an ex opera singer, so there was some stiff competition there,” Mr Barker said. “But it’s all fun as well. I see it as a chance to meet my friends again. I’ve had friends for years from doing this. I can’t see myself stopping unless the lungs or legs give out.”
Ewen McRae
Property primed to sell By Ewen McRae Burnside is set for a property boom, according to two new reports into housing and liveability in Victoria. The suburb, which is part of one of the fastest growing regions in the state, is predicted to have Victoria’s second highest percentage of residential properties listed for sale in the next six months, according to a report from Westpac. The report looked at elements such as property type, accumulated equity, and tenure in home, overlaid with local market data such as turnover, average time on market and listing
sales prices to determine which suburbs were likely to have higher listings. Pakenham was the top suburb on the list, with Burnside coming in second. Nearby Caroline Springs (3rd) and Taylors Hill (5th) also placed highly on the list. Westpac general manager of home ownership Will Ranken said areas with high supply were likely to generate higher listings and sales in the next six months. “We know that lack of supply is a top concern for home buyers navigating the current market,” Mr Ranken said. “Despite some favourable conditions for buyers, like
record-low interest rates, low stock has made it tricky for some to find the right home. “Our model indicates that certain areas have higher than average tenure and accumulated equity, where longer-term homeowners who have been wanting to sell and move may decide that now is the time. “Our research provides an indicator of where there may be increased intent to sell in the coming months.” The Westpac report follows another study from People Choice Credit Union, which identified Burnside as one of the most affordable and liveable suburbs in the state.
The study said Burnside ranked seventh in the state for liveability, but had better affordability of housing than other suburbs on the list which pushed its ranking up to fifth overall, the best performing suburb in the west. Burnside has a median house price of $590,000. People’s Choice chief executive Steve Laidlaw said liveability played a big part in home buyers’ decisions of where to purchase. “Liveability can mean very different things depending on who you are talking to, so we look at a broad range of factors buyers might consider besides the cost of buying a home,” he said.